


lifetime

by keiigiri



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Light Angst, Weddings, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27630937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keiigiri/pseuds/keiigiri
Summary: if yamaguchi tadashi hadn't accepted someone else's confession of love, would he have been spending a lifetime with you instead?
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei & Yamaguchi Tadashi, Tsukishima Kei/Reader, Yamaguchi Tadashi/Reader
Kudos: 35





	lifetime

**Author's Note:**

> i posted this at twitter too! my handle is @gojovid19, please check it out over there too! also, make sure to read this while listening to lifetime by ben&ben!

tadashi yamaguchi was happier than anyone else in the world when he had received an invitation to you and kei tsukishima's wedding. he was even the groom's best man, and he couldn't feel more honored than others. he felt unworthy of the role.

he was happy. he truly was.

but why was his heart aching, and feeling empty from the news?

maybe it started when he met you, alone, in a playground he often frequented with his best friend, tsukki. where you had approached the two of them and asked to play. tsukki, with his cold nature, obviously refused, but he was surprised at how stubborn you were just to be able to play with them. and in the end, you had won the battle against the blonde and that was the start of the friendship of the three of you.

you all got especially closer once you had enrolled in the same middle school as the two did, and nothing has changed since then.

when tsukishima had left for home early on the afternoon of a spring day of his 3rd year of middle school, yamaguchi was left alone, searching for you around the orange painted school. he searched high and low, and was starting to get worried seeing as you couldn't be found, until he saw a figure crouched down, sleeping beside the window of his classroom.

immediately he knew it was you. who else would it be?

he sighs, relieved and was about to wake you up until he got a look of you.

and on that day, was when his heart started skipping a beat.

you looked beautiful, with a peaceful look on your face that was framed by the orange rays of the sunset. the spring wind blew gently around the two of you, and for the very first time, he wanted time to stop so he could savour such an ethereal scene that he never thought he'd see in his life.

but of course, not everything would go his way.

despite his growing feelings ever since that day, he knew he wasn't the one for you. he was jealous, really.

seeing you get along with his best friend so well even with all the bickering you and tsukishima threw like a volleyball. he found it amusing, but at the same time, he wanted to be that close to you. but when he sees the two of you, he thinks..

you two are perfect for each other.

and that he didn't have a chance to be with you for a lifetime.

but even as those thoughts embed him like a curse, the love he felt towards you still spread throughout him like rapid venom, and he still couldn't find a cure for it no matter how much it pained him.

and on a spring day after school, when everyone went back home, yamaguchi stayed behind to help out with some student council work as a volunteer. it wasnt necessary, but he would like some extra points. tsukishima had to leave early, and he didnt know where you were until he hears familiar sounding footsteps behind him.

"tadashi!" the owner of the name whips his head towards the direction of the well known voice, and when he sees you running towards him at the speed of light, he wonders whats so urgent that has you running towards him. you stop in front of him, and the smile he loved so dearly greets him warmly, making his heart flutter while your words of greetings went out from one ear to the other.

"what is it?" he asked with the gentle and warm smile he always wore when you had said you wanted some advice, but that expression was immediately replaced with a shy blush on his face, fumes practically popping out of his ears.

"how do you confess to someone?"

he didn't think you'd approach him for something like this. hell, he didn't even think you'd actually have time for something like this. you were a free spirit and it was one of the reasons why he liked you. he looks away, and leans against the wall of the empty hallway, scratching his chin as he looked up deep in thought.

"hm, if it were me.. i'd love if they just told me straight what they truly feel towards me. just the thought of being told im loved makes me happy." yamaguchi smiles shyly, looking down towards his shoes.

the hallway was filled with silence, and when he looked up towards you, you were staring at the window, the spring wind dancing along with your hair that he just wanted to touch so badly. your eyes glistened at the orange rays of sun, and god.

the sight of it just made him fall for you all over again, but he knew he should give it up before he's unable to make his way back up.

a student council member calls for him, and since it was just a quick break before heading home, he and you both agree to meet up at the school gates and head home together with plans to hang around the convenience store on the way home.

just when he was finally about to step out of the school with his bag in his hands, he was stopped by someone who he knew in front of the entrance of the school, but he didnt really know her at the same time. it was a girl in his year that volunteered with him for student council work, and with his signature smile that could thaw even the coldest heart, he asks what she needed from him.

the hesitance she showed towards him worried him, and just as he was about to ask what was wrong, words he'd never even think about hearing spewed out her mouth shy, yet determined, her face as red as a cherry as she handed him a pink envelope.

"i like you, yamaguchi. please go out with me!"

he was flustered by her approach, and just as he was about to reject with you in his mind, he paused.

he remembers that he doesn't have a chance with you. not in this lifetime, at least. you had tsukishima. you always looked at him, and maybe it was time for him to start looking for someone else, too.

he smiles once more, and takes the girl's shaking hands, placing them in his as he accepted her confession of love. to say that the girl was happy was an understatement. she gave him a quick hug, one that caught him off guard, and they exchanged phone numbers before she left, his mind set but heart confused.

was this the right thing to do? will he really be able to love her like how he loves you?

he sighs, and when he turns around to head to the direction of his house, he sees you standing there blankly, and he quickly makes his way towards you, a bashful smile on his face.

"sorry you had to see that." he apologized, scratching the back of his head while looking away. why couldn't he look at you? why did he feel guilty for some reason? why did his heart ache for something that wouldn't matter to you?

when he didn't get a reply, he takes all of his courage and looks at you, and seeing your expression was something he had never seen before. you looked like you were holding back so much.. sadness, for some reason. and it caught him off guard. he stayed quiet, but when you suddenly slapped his back, he let out a yelp and bent over from the pain, looking up to see you once again smiling, as if that expression of yours from earlier that made him feel different things never existed.

"did you get confessed to?" you asked with an excited tone, and while erasing the memory of what you had shown him earlier despite it haunting him for some odd reason, he stood back up and spoke about what had happened as the both of you walked home, the orange sun finally starting to end its day as the sky became darker.

with someone new in his life, he thought maybe he'd finally move on from someone who didn't reciprocate the same feelings he had for them.

but on the third year of his highschool a day before his graduation, his girlfriend wanted to break things off. he was confused as to why. he swore he was a good boyfriend. or was he just not enough? but hearing her words made him realize something he should have long ago.

"its obvious that im not the one you love, tadashi. you never really looked at me the same way you did with a certain person we know."

and on his graduation day, he had realized after his breakup that his feelings for you would never change no matter what he did, and so he just decided to embrace them in hopes that they will vanish with time. he, you, and tsukishima meet up for a graduation photo together, and with the memories the three of you shared were imprinted, his highschool life has ended.

and on his third year of college, he receives a call from you.

the three of you still hung out, but way less often considering how busy your schedules were, and the three of you didn't mind that one bit. when he picked up the call, you had invited him over to a rather fancy restaurant, and tsukishima was coming as well. considering the place, he knew it was going to be a more sophisticated hang out rather than a more relaxed one like going to a fast food store.

for some reason, he felt his gut telling him something he wouldnt want was going to happen. but he decided to ignore it, and accepted, seeing as his schedule was clear for the said day.

when he walks into the restaurant, he immediately sees you and his best friend in a table, and he walks over with a smile, happy to see the both of you after such a long time.

for some reason, the night he spent with the two of you felt long, as if there was nothing about to go in the way of this moment. but when he has finally finished his meal along with his best friends, he takes a sip of his drink from the wine glass, and suddenly, you speak up in a serious tone.

"tadashi, we have something to say." you look over to tsukishima, and that action immediately makes his throat dry, his heart tightening up and racing from the anxiousness. he knows. he knows what you were going to say. he takes a deep breath and smiles nervously, asking in a quiet tone.

"what is it?"

"kei and i are dating." you say with a smile, but for some reason, you looked almost hesitant to tell him.

he knows you were going to say those words.

he knew one day it was going to happen.

with how much time you spent together with tsukishima, and how well you two got along, it was no surprise you were going to end up with him.

but when he arrived home after the dinner, why did he sink to the floor of the entrance and cry?

why did his heart let out all of the pent up emotions it held back all these years? he couldnt understand how, or why.

why his heart was so prepared, and yet still managed to break from the impact.

he couldnt understand, and years after he graduated college, he had gotten a letter.

tadashi yamaguchi was happier than anyone else in the world when he had received an invitation to you and kei tsukishima's wedding. he was even the groom's best man, and he couldn't feel more honored than others. he felt unworthy of the role.

he was happy. he truly was.

but why was his heart aching, and feeling empty from the news?

he sighed as he stood in front of the large, white doors that lead to where you were dolling yourself up in, and after a few minutes, grabbed the handles, opening the doors to see you standing alone in front of a mirror, adorned so beautifully in white, and when you turn around and saw him, you smile with nostalgia in your expression, walking towards him.

he closes the door behind him, and opens his arms to embrace you tightly, giving your back a gentle pat as he congratulated you.

when he got a clear look of your face, it made him feel things he had been feeling ever since he first saw you sleeping in the classroom at that spring afternoon. you truly looked ethereal.

he and you made some small talk, from who was invited to sneak peaks of what the wedding would have and more. but when you ran out of topics, you spoke up in a soft voice, looking down on the floor.

"tadashi, i have something to confess."

"what is it?" he asked, and what he heard next was something he never thought he'd hear in this lifetime.

"i have always loved you. you were the first one i loved, and maybe even up until now, theres lingering thoughts of 'what if i had been with you instead?'."

yamaguchi was speechless. he couldn't process what you had said, and he wasn't even given time to think when you continued to speak in a voice that was trembling, trying its hardest not to let out any choked emotions.

"on that day when i asked how i should confess to someone, i was planning on confessing to you.. but it looks like you had someone else in your mind."

memories of that afternoon came rushing to him, and he was left even more speechless than before, his hands moving up to grip on yours, his expression filled with hurt and pain as he spoke while trying to hold back his tears.

"on that day, i accepted her confession because i thought i'd never have a chance with you. you got along so well with tsukki so i had assumed that you had eyes for him instead of me. you were the one i loved, and even up until now, despite the fact that you're getting married to our bestfriend, i still love you, and that wont be changing anytime soon."

just like how you had left yamaguchi speechless, you ended up at the same state, your eyes finally shedding the tears it held back as you sobbed, not even caring if the makeup you wore was going to get ruined.

yamaguchi couldnt believe.

he had a lifetime waiting for the two of you.

he could have lived in a world where he was yours had he not made such a choice back then.

he holds your crying frame into his chest, and buries his nose on your hair, giving your back pats of comfort in an attempt to calm you down.

oh, you were a good dream.


End file.
